Repairs to a sink hole on Water Street, between Cannon and High Streets, are scheduled to be finished sometime on Wednesday, said Richard Nicholson of Joiner Excavating – the company brought in to make the repairs.
Nicholson believes the sink hole originated from the earthquake that hit the northeast in August of 2011.
“When the earthquake struck the old clay pipes started to collapsed,” Nicholson said.
The street has been closed to traffic since yesterday when repairs began.
The repairs include new service lines, or laterals, to the homes affected by the earthquake.
At Monday’s council meeting, Utilities Manager Bob Sipes said that repairs were attempted previously but did not hold.
“We dug it up once and made a repair to one of the laterals,” Sipes said. “We thought that it took care of the problem, but it did not.”
Sipes said the pipes were not on solid ground and it only took two fingers to push a steel rod through the dirt below the pipes.
There is another small depression on Water Street close to Cannon that will be watched closely, said Town Manager Bill Ingersoll. He said a recent inspection by camera found that the lines were not currently affected.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.